KeaneyBlue - The URI Basketball Forum

rambone 78 wrote:78, shooting for 4 star recruits is one thing. Getting them is another. Not that easy to do at State U.

There were 4 of them on this year's team.

Billyboy78 wrote:

rambone 78 wrote:78, shooting for 4 star recruits is one thing. Getting them is another. Not that easy to do at State U.

There were 4 of them on this year's team.

Billyboy: This can't be true. URI has terrible recruiting assistants. Didn't you hear the rumor?

Terrell was a 4 but he originally signed with Ok St.....KI was but he was a transfer......

Like I said, it's not easy....we need more of them.

Did I say terrible? Get lost, Iggy, you add nothing to the conversation.

Sorry, but two transfers who were busts, elsewhere,
don't really qualify as if they were gained as
four year freshmen.
Iggy is hell bent on CYA, as a local writer,
and always boosts the status quo.
Did so with CFL for years.

The status quo is an NCAA berth and a team expected to be in the running next year. Yes, I'll take that.

I totally misjudged what the tenor on the board would be after experiencing the great end to this season. Everyone has the right to their own opnion and feelings but it is highly unlikely you will change others. You aren't going to change how I feel about the team. I will carry that into next year. I was in Sacramento with the other Rhody fans. The reactions from other fans thru the entire weekend were incredible. The pride everyone had at the events. Even after losing the heartbreaker to Oregon we were Rhody proud. I will have hope and optomism for next year. I trust Dan as the leader of the program. They earned that with me by how they made me feel in March.

I don't understand why some people want to run off folks here who actually have inside info, so we can be left listening to the speculation and hyperbole squad for pages on end. There is room for everyone, Rhody nation is a small community there is no room to run people off the island.

Insider? Same person who said I was dreaming, when I said
Thorr was not leaving for Xavier.
In fact the "insider" didn't know that Thorr was never in
the running for the Xavier job.
How did I know this?
Thorr told me, himself.
This is a discussion board. These threads are our ideas and observations.
If someone doesn't like them, challenge what's written,
Simply because we don't sit like Pavlov's dogs waiting for a treat,
from these "insiders" to toss us,
doesn't mean what we think and what we write is ridiculous.
There are some very good posters here, who aren't
related to people at URI, or members of the media,
or big money boosters,who present very good insights on Rhody basketball.

That's the point of my last sentence, there are lots of great posters here and room for everyone. Besides trolls and Fryers

In other news not sure if it had been posted already but I think the team is heading back to Europe this summer. That will provide some summer workouts to discuss and an early glimpse at Fatts!!

Billyboy78 wrote:

giovanni wrote:

Nothing against Mezie, but I'd like to see us involved with some higher ranked kids (yeah, I know. Rankings mean nothing...). I figured we'd be shooting for 4* types now.

I wouldn't argue that rankings mean nothing, but I do think the best strategy for our recruiting year in and year out is to recognize undervalued guys and get in early on them before their recruitment goes national. We definitely want 4* players, but realistically we have a better shot at signing them if we start recruiting them before they are 4* players.

I also think it is worth mentioning the politics that goes on in the recruiting evaluation world. Take Fatts Russell as an example - I know all fans tend to overhype and overrate their own recruits, but my honest feeling is that if Fatts did not sign in the fall and his recruitment was open coming into the spring period, his play over the winter would have bumped up his rank and rating in the recruiting evaluation industry.

For the record RI has and has had enough talent for a program to recruit and get some talent. 1 of the better guys each year would be enough. Even every other year getting 1 of the better top 5-10 guys depending on how deep the year is would be enough. Jim Barron jr. he was like a top 10 guy. Worked out well for us.

I don't care where they come from though.

Even the sponge guy was good. I didn't like him, but he played heavy minutes for a successful team. We have had good players here for a long time except for the brief lull. The key is what we get them to do on the court.

Hopefully finally breaking through pays off.

bigappleram wrote:That's the point of my last sentence, there are lots of great posters here and room for everyone. Besides trolls and Fryers

In other news not sure if it had been posted already but I think the team is heading back to Europe this summer. That will provide some summer workouts to discuss and an early glimpse at Fatts!!

No BAR, it has not been mentioned about the Europe Trip. I hinted at it a few weeks ago when I mentioned that big men Layssard and Tertsea would get playing time in games this summer to show what they can do. Not totally sure but I believe its Paris and London. Teams can do this every 4 years so its good to see URI continuing to capitalize on this option.

Can Fatts play? I'm thinking he can because they changed the rules, but I'm fuzzy on it.

Seawrightspostgame wrote:For the record RI has and has had enough talent for a program to recruit and get some talent. 1 of the better guys each year would be enough. Even every other year getting 1 of the better top 5-10 guys depending on how deep the year is would be enough. Jim Barron jr. he was like a top 10 guy. Worked out well for us.

Hopefully finally breaking through pays off.

Your example is Jimmy Baron! I wonder how we ever recruited that top RI talent? Oh that's right his father was the COACH.
Maybe that will happen again. Great example though. Tell me who the top 5-10 RI HS players are.

Who was the last player we recruited from RI?
Not including Jimmy Baron... who barely counts as an RI kid.

Steve Mello, who last played in 2004,
was the last RI scholarship player for URI.
That's 13 years ago.

Who was the last top player PC recruited from RI that started on a team with a winning record?

Mazzula was the pg on JB jr's team(WVU heavy minutes). Then they played against Jeff Xavier who could play. There were others.

D Nichols was at that time. Rakim Sanders. Then that era gave way to Ledo and MCW and whoever were the RI players then. Right into Colson and these other guys.

Bonzie Colson is the most harmful. Maybe URI doesn't beat ND out for a kid. But to think an undersized front court guy that is dominant. We need that guy. That's what the URI's get and beat the best teams. Real miss right there.

The younger Mazzulla is going to GW.

Iggy1979 wrote:Can Fatts play? I'm thinking he can because they changed the rules, but I'm fuzzy on it.

Yes,
4 years ago in Italy, EC and Hassan both played and they were incoming Freshmen

Think it's more important to have good NE connections, than good RI connections.
Most kids who are any good from RI are prepping and playing AAU out-of-state.
Are many of these RI kids playing for the Breakers or at St. Andrews or other local HS?
Soon as they start to break out, they tend to go elsewhere.

Many of the great players in URI history came from Connecticut.

If We are going to add a big man, as Zags says, how can we be trying to get a transfer like Poyser?

Billyboy78 wrote:If We are going to add a big man, as Zags says, how can we be trying to get a transfer like Poyser?

A transfer like Poyser would have to sit out next year and would play the following two. So we could do both in that case. Unless Poyser would take up that last scholarship for next year. i'm not sure how it works.

But we only have one scholarship to give now. I'm sure neither Poyser nor the theoretical big man would be ok with going a year without a scholarship.

Plan A: big man who can play right away.
Plan B: a guard transfer who sits out a year.

Interesting dilemma.
Poyser is a known quantity, and fills a future need.
Will anyone still not signed or transferring as a grad,
be of any use and immediately help?
If you're just going to sign a stiff, better to use the
lone scholarship on Poyser.

Was thinking the same thing. Interesting indeed.

If it's between Toppin or Poyser I want Poyser. He would be a solid starter for us and still has great potential.

Unless we have a big that can come in a be a better option than Akele and Layssard I want the best player available.

To me, if you think Toppin is even Outerbridge-level you take him over Poyser. NEED BIGS. Unless Poyser is Stan Robinson-level.

When Poyser started at the PG position he was averaging 17 a game. For some reason they moved him to SG and he started to lose a ton of minutes.

We already have two bigs that we are hoping will develop in ML and MT. Bringing in another one that won't play much next year doesn't make sense to me when you can land a proven guy like Poyser.

Not sure I see the need for another PG, even a good one like Poyser.

Fatts will be a soph, and Dowtin has already proven he can play the point pretty well when needed.

Maybe as insurance? Otherwise another 4 year PG could be helpful in a couple of years.

I would think Poyser would only come here if he was pretty sure he would get major minutes at the point. He might not if Fatts turns out to be really good.

rambone 78 wrote:Not sure I see the need for another PG, even a good one like Poyser.

Fatts will be a soph, and Dowtin has already proven he can play the point pretty well when needed.

Maybe as insurance? Otherwise another 4 year PG could be helpful in a couple of years.

I would think Poyser would only come here if he was pretty sure he would get major minutes at the point. He might not if Fatts turns out to be really good.

As long as the PGs we have are also scorers, they can play together. If we're ever going to run like we supposedly want to do, I'll take a few guys who can both handle/pass and score.

Poyser is 6'3" and a combo guard.
If anyone recalls, EC came here as a PG.
How'd that work out?
Poysner's shooting stats are pretty rough,
but nowhere near as bad as Robinson's were at Indiana.
He also has a decent assist to turnover ratio.

I hope we get him . With the one year to sit out and practice he can develop more and be ready to go the following year when we need him

I'm becoming slightly impatient with this offseasons recruiting. Maybe because I'm just acting like a typical fan, but there's so much news about other teams acquiring new guys while URI is crickets....in state and in conference.

I think URI is more focused on the 2018 class right now and will kind of see what shakes out as far as filling the last spot for 2017. The 2018 class will be one of the biggest classes ever for URI in a couple of ways - both in terms of the sheer number of players that will be a part of it and for coming at a time when they can sell the program as having turned a corner. The hay is mostly in the barn as far as recruiting 2017 kids, but the 2018s they are recruiting they suddenly have a lot more to work with in terms of program recognition and hopefully continued program upgrades that can show recruits the program is rising and growing. Instead of stressing out about the last 2017 spot (that is unlikely to be a serious difference maker, IMO), I'm super excited to see how the 2018 recruiting shakes out between now and the fall signing period - looking for some homeruns that will be the foundation for the success of the program after most of the guys on last year's team have moved on.

Yeah I think the plan right now is to go with the guys we have right now which means Berry probably gets in the rotation and one of Laysard or Tertsea

Bill,
I have thought about whether to respond or not but got busy with work. In your tweet earlier this week about "Seen on the URI Message Board this week" the "never wanted him" was my statement.
When Khris Lane chose VCU and I said "never wanted him" it is not like I always wanted him or I was neutral on him and then after he spurned URI for VCU I came along sour grapes-like and made this statement. In fact, at the very beginning when his name came up I said "pass" and took some heat for it........on the URI Board
There has been a lot of interesting discussion on the KeaneyBlue Recruiting Board related to all of the names that have some up for the filling of the very last scholarship.
To me I would want the last scholarship to go to a very good player, a player similar to a ESPN Top 100 player like Kuran Iverson or Stanford Robinson. URI Coaching Staff has shown that they can take players like these two who were highly rated in HS but maybe did not get the right fit in the college they selected, and improve their skills, help them fit in with the current players and allow them to flourish and enjoy their experience at URI AND perform well academically and graduate.
There have been many, many names surface but only 1 spot available
Discussion has included:
- Big Man Rim Protector, rebounder type?
- Shooting Guard?
- 5th Year Player?
- Transfer with 2-3 years remaining?
- Freshman with 4 years remaining?
- Keep the Scholarship open in case a Robinson or Iverson type talent becomes unexpectedly available?

The discussion has been very good with wide ranging opinions and thoughts.

As for Khris Lane, I felt from the beginning that we could do better. Lane is 6'6" 245 pounds and only has one year remaining to play as a 5th Year. He looks a bit slow to me and does not appear to jump as well as I would want to see a Starting A10 Big Man.
His team Longwood plays in a much lesser overall quality Southern Conference where they started off 3-0 then lost 15 straight conference games. He played prior to Longwood at Drexel before transferring to Longwood.
While his name was mentioned along with decent teams like VCU, Wake Forest among others and people feel that must mean enough that we should try to sign him, one must consider the time of year being April/May and teams have holes to fill due to unexpected transfers, recruits who de-committed, recruits who went to try for the NBA, etc.
The pickings tend to be slim this time of year.
Coaching Staff had Lane and HS Senior Obadiah Toppin visit the same weekend and worked them out. It's been said in his recruiting thread how Lane was viewed at the workout. While players say a lot in Twitter about offers they receive, you do not see Universities say any negative things about a player who comes and works out as Lane and Toppin did. Just doesn't happen and for good reason. What benefit would it do the player or the school?
Often when a name comes up in the recruiting section people get excited and want to get the guy to verbal. It is felt to be a slight, a loss, a disappointment if the player goes somewhere else as Lane did to VCU. We should not feel so rejected when a player picks another school. It's natural to feel rejected but things may work out for the better for both player and school.
It turned out Lane was not a fit. It needs to be a good fit for the Player and for the Coaches and for the Players on the Team itself. The players give feedback from these workouts too and are listened too.

If I had not said pass on Lane at the beginning, if I had raved about him, hoped URI had signed him, THEN he picked VCU (or PC) and I said "never wanted him" then that would be different. But I was consistent throughout.

Ramster, that sounds like the ISU board to me. They were killing Juiston for going to UNLV, both him and the school. I believe that's where I saw the "offering something in the handshake" comment.

Show me ONE post where anyone said,
"We don't like this player", or "never wanted him",
in regards to Juiston.
Koch is pulling this out of his ass.
Maybe it was said about Lane?

The only place I saw it was for Lane and Kiss

Bill initially had an incorrect tweet on Juiston when he declared for UNLV stating that he had an on campus visit at URI. After a reply tweet that he was incorrect, he deleted his tweet and replaced it.

For some reason, Bill likes to criticize our fan base. Yeah, we bitch and moan about a lot of stuff. We criticize Dan and lots of other things. So does every fan base on their forums. PC kills Cooley often on their board and bitches and moans about tons of stuff. I've never seen him criticize PC's fans. Whatever. Who cares? I don't think it's very professional, but I guess his employer doesn't have a problem with it.

steveystuds06 wrote:If it's between Toppin or Poyser I want Poyser. He would be a solid starter for us and still has great potential.

Unless we have a big that can come in a be a better option than Akele and Layssard I want the best player available.

I like Poyser, but would also take a shot on Toppin before I left the scholarship open waiting for a mid-year transfer. I think Toppin moves his feet well enough to eventually play for Dan.

Koch parrots the party line.
He repeats what he hears from Dan and company.
Always bitches about our fanbase, and attendance.
Maybe the program isn't happy about those
who dare to not fall in lock step on everything.

We have the ability on this board to post direct links to tweets that allow for full context.

rodfromcranston wrote:Koch parrots the party line.
He repeats what he hears from Dan and company.
Always bitches about our fanbase, and attendance.
Maybe the program isn't happy about those
who dare to not fall in lock step on everything.

This has always been koch's pov. But I don't think he's carrying the party line. Dan acknowledged the great support of the fans throughout the year and especially into the post season.

rodfromcranston wrote:Show me ONE post where anyone said,
"We don't like this player", or "never wanted him",
in regards to Juiston.
Koch is pulling this out of his ass.
Maybe it was said about Lane?

Yes,
I said "never wanted him" about Lane, but my point was I said this at the very beginning. I did not say it in a "sour grapes" way after he spurned URI. I never wanted him. By quoting me it sounds like I just automatically said this after he chose VCU. Bottom line he was not a fit here as Dre3000 said after he worked out with the team.